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Knyteguy posted:That Millionaire Fastlane book is great. I'm not going to do anything beyond reopen this product selling business until I finish reading it, because it literally doesn't cost anything unless I sell anything, but the author is very motivating, and I'm hungry to read more. I'm glad you like it. It's not Rich Dad, Poor Dad because it gives concrete advice - although like I said in the initial post you have to ignore some of the marketing and hype. The author is about building a business that adds genuine value, not MLM, not get rich quick, etc. He is honest about the hours it takes, and how most people don't want to spend the time. He made his initial money with a lead generation website (limos.com), lead gen is how I have made a significant chunk of money, and so initially that is why I read the book. A lot of it wasn't useful to me because it's already how I have structured my life, but I really wish I had read it ten years ago, and that's why I passed it along. I didn't like everything in the book - the guy is frankly undereducated on compounding and investing, and he doubles down on that at his message board, and he also has pretty goofy things to say about poor people, but it's the rare book where I agree with everything 100%. You have to take what has value and leave the rest, and there is plenty of value in the book.
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Aug 7, 2014 06:37
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imabanana posted:I'm glad you like it. About 20% through and starting to see some of the stuff you mention. I'm excited to get out of some of the wealth tips (which I'm pretty familiar with) and into more of the business tips.  Not bad considering it was my birthday weekend.
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Aug 11, 2014 16:12
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So a question for next month or two: We're probably going to spend an average of $20.00/mo to use our apartment's laundry facilities (we preload cash onto a laundry card) if things continue as is, which is likely. It may be even more. If we stay here for 2 years which is likely, I was thinking it might be better to go for something like this + a drying rack: http://www.amazon.com/Panda-Compact...chine+apartment Some initial craigslist research isn't showing much on the used market. So I now understand that buying something to save money isn't usually good justification, but I thought I would explain that above anyway. Here is my real justificiation: Quality of life of not having to run down there twice (especially once the baby is here) regardless of frigid weather, not dealing with reloading the card, not thinking about our clothes being stolen, not worrying about my wife being out there alone if I'm not home, etc. Plus the apartment equipment is terrible and not really worth the money. So how do we make a plan to get this? I'm thinking September or October, but if the input here is negative which I expect, then I will reconsider pushing it out further. Alternatively how can do our laundry in a less lovely way that is still frugal? Edit: and I'm fully ready to admit that maybe we're just country bumpkins living in a small city where most places usually have laundry facilities inside the house. I don't know what people in places like New York do. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 19:49
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gently caress those stupid lovely baby washing machines. Drying rack ain't a bad idea though since it does save you some cash on the drying part. edit: people in cities go to the laundromat / the basement of their building. Set timers. I have a little baby washer in my apartment and most of the time it makes more sense to just go to the laundromat where you can do a bunch of clothes at once. KYOON GRIFFEY JR fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 19:59
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That thing looks like a pain in the rear end. I agree a drying rack sounds reasonable, but that washing machine looks like something you'll try to use once and give up on. Sounds like it washes like 2 pairs of pants or 3 shirts at a time, forget that. Just say no.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:02
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:gently caress those stupid lovely baby washing machines. Drying rack ain't a bad idea though since it does save you some cash on the drying part. Hm well the drying rack alone would address quite a few of those points while keeping it frugal. The dryer wrinkles our clothes so air drying it won't lose the advantage there... it would save one trip, people would be less likely to steal wet clothes, it would pay for itself pretty quickly, and my wife would be out there half the time. Alright thanks that's a good idea. I'll let her know we'll pick one up along with a cheap iron. Should fit within our household goods budget this month. ^ Ah I didn't realize it only washed that few clothes. I thought it would take a hamper worth of clothes like the picture suggests.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:07
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Knyteguy posted:We're probably going to spend an average of $20.00/mo to use our apartment's laundry facilities (we preload cash onto a laundry card) if things continue as is, which is likely. It may be even more. Can you break that down? Is there a straight-up fee to even be allowed to use the room, or are you spending $20 actually running machines? I only ask because the stuff around me has always been around two bucks to wash and dry a load, and I can't really see it getting to $20/mo. Are you counting the cost of detergent, dryer sheets and whatnot in there? Those costs won't go away with a home washer. I'd caution against buying the mini-washer, but to be brutally honest I don't find the concerns you have all that concerning. I obviously don't know all the details of your situation, but I've never really worried about people stealing my clothes, or being assaulted in the laundry room at my apartment complex. Everything else you mentioned is just a quality of life upgrade (we have to walk there, it's cold sometimes, reloading the card is annoying), and it's really up to you if it's worth it. You should also take into account that the thing will use a decent amount of power, raising your electric bill, and may end up breaking or needing repairs in the future. edit: yeah it's also just really small 
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Aug 11, 2014 20:11
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Knyteguy posted:^ Ah I didn't realize it only washed that few clothes. I thought it would take a hamper worth of clothes like the picture suggests. I just went through a lot of the reviews and yeah, that's the #1, #2 and #3 concern. One guy tried to wash two 38x34 jeans and had to split the load in two. It sounds like a real labor of love on top of dubious customer service if something goes wrong. Also can't do blankets, towels - anything big. You'd be doing 3 loads a day to keep up for a family of 3 and still have to take stuff down to the laundry service. It seems ideal for RVers or single college students, otherwise I'd steer clear.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:16
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I'm also extremely curious how this came up in your household. I never knew things like this existed. How did you find out about them and start thinking about buying one? Is this a nagging problem you've been dealing with for a long time now?
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Aug 11, 2014 20:17
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Spending money to save money is not exactly a great strategy. Find a place with cheaper laundry and go out there and do a bunch all at once if you want to save money.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:18
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I'm assuming he had a washer/dryer in his old place since he just moved.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:18
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I pay $2/load to dry and $2/load to wash in my building which is loving horse poo poo but honestly pretty standard pricing wise here. For one dude, it's probably running $12-16/mo, and that's while dry cleaning a lot of work clothes. I can easily see spending $20/mo on laundry fees alone as a couple or a family.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:18
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Wait, your current place doesn't have W/D hookups?n8r posted:Spending money to save money is not exactly a great strategy. Cicero fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 20:19
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I pay $2/load to dry and $2/load to wash in my building which is loving horse poo poo but honestly pretty standard pricing wise here. For one dude, it's probably running $12-16/mo, and that's while dry cleaning a lot of work clothes. I can easily see spending $20/mo on laundry fees alone as a couple or a family. Yeesh. Guess I lucked out in my previous apartments. I guess it was six years ago.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:21
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Inverse Icarus posted:Yeesh. Guess I lucked out in my previous apartments. I guess it was six years ago. Yeah mine is 2.50-3.50 just to wash depending on the size of the load, and then something like 2.50 for 30 minutes of drying, and 50 cents for every 6 minutes beyond that. I'm a single guy and I have enough clothing that I can get away with 2-3 washings a month but it's pretty harsh.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:31
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Inverse Icarus posted:I'm also extremely curious how this came up in your household. Bugamol posted:I'm assuming he had a washer/dryer in his old place since he just moved. Cicero posted:Wait, your current place doesn't have W/D hookups? Correct we've always had hookups as well as the washer/dryer provided for us. I've had to use facilities as a young bachelor before and it wasn't bad, but as a family it does suck a little more. KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I pay $2/load to dry and $2/load to wash in my building which is loving horse poo poo but honestly pretty standard pricing wise here. For one dude, it's probably running $12-16/mo, and that's while dry cleaning a lot of work clothes. I can easily see spending $20/mo on laundry fees alone as a couple or a family. I'm not 100% sure of the prices but I'd bet it's close to this. What I don't like is it's not like they're modern machines or anything - it doesn't look like they've been replaced in 20 years.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:32
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When I think about affordability, I think about Seattle 
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Aug 11, 2014 20:32
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Knyteguy posted:Correct we've always had hookups as well as the washer/dryer provided for us. I've had to use facilities as a young bachelor before and it wasn't bad, but as a family it does suck a little more. With no washer, you'll have to do disposables too, which is more expensive. KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:When I think about affordability, I think about Seattle
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Aug 11, 2014 20:34
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:When I think about affordability, I think about Seattle I edited my post just as you posted this (I was talking about moving to Seattle or Berkeley but decided it wasn't relevant at this point). I've only been to the Seattle airport so I truly am ignorant about pretty much everything there, but my wife seems to like it. This is more of a pipe dream though so that's why I edited it out. Edit: Cicero posted:Oh man, having a baby is gonna SUCK for you. I can't imagine dealing with an infant with no W/D in the house. Talk about pain. Edit 2: Forgot to mention that my wife is going to be trying out transcription next month to see if she can stand it enough to exclusively work from home after the baby is born. She's not going to quit her job or anything yet because of insurance, but maybe she could segue into it full time after the birth and we can get private insurance. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 20:34
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Haha good luck working from home with a baby
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Aug 11, 2014 21:28
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sheri posted:Haha good luck working from home with a baby I see no reason why she would be unable to do contract work with a baby. It may just mean that she starts work after I get home.
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Aug 11, 2014 21:42
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Knyteguy posted:I see no reason why she would be unable to do contract work with a baby. It may just mean that she starts work after I get home.
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Aug 11, 2014 21:49
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I have an eight week old. Do not assume anything. My kid won't sleep alone and will cry when anyone holds him except for his mother.
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Aug 11, 2014 21:58
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Cicero posted:So she's gonna spend all day taking care of the baby, then all evening working, and you will spend all day working, then all evening taking care of the baby? Having a baby is a huge adjustment, and I would not ever downplay it, but it's also not as hard as some of these people are making it out to be. I think this is just SA tough love. Babies sleep a lot at first. (I'm assuming a healthy baby obviously, if not then all bets are off.) You can easily watch a baby and work from home, depending on the job. Transcription seems like it would be doable since you can start, stop, and pick up where you left off. Working from home actually becomes more problematic when the baby becomes mobile. My wife is a stay at home mom and I work from home online. I did plenty of work holding a sleeping baby and typing with the other hand. Obviously not transcription, but work nonetheless.
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Aug 11, 2014 22:12
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Cicero posted:So she's gonna spend all day taking care of the baby, then all evening working, and you will spend all day working, then all evening taking care of the baby? We're still trying to figure this all out, but that's kind of what we're hoping. I never followed up with the thread but the first 2 daycares we looked into were I think $750/mo 5 days a week (maybe 3 I'll have to double check), and $1,000/mo (definitely 5 days a week). Do never unprotected sex. (just kidding I'm really excited). imabanana I'm jealous that's a great situation. I would love to be able to spend most hours of the day together as a family.
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Aug 11, 2014 22:47
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Knyteguy posted:I never followed up with the thread but the first 2 daycares we looked into were I think $750/mo 5 days a week (maybe 3 I'll have to double check), and $1,000/mo (definitely 5 days a week). So pretty much exactly as much as everyone said it would cost. Good luck on the work from home thing. I have a few friends whose wives tried this and it did not last very long. It is going to be entirely dependent on the temperament of your baby. My first niece was the cutest, sweetest child in the world. She slept through the night, rarely cried, and was okay with being held by anyone/being left alone in a rocking seat. They decided to have a second child and my second niece was the loudest, most temperamental, hell child I've ever seen. I think trying to work from home is a good backup plan, and it's a great idea to start immediately. Work at work during the day and work from home at night. It's not going to be easier with a newborn. Plus it gives you time to see how much she can make and how quickly the burn out will start to set in.
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Aug 11, 2014 23:17
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Yeah, my cousin had a kid almost the same age as ours, and she was extremely easy to manage as a baby, was perfectly fine sleeping in a crib or wherever by herself, playing by herself, etc. Our son, on the other hand, demanded constant attention. You had to be playing with him or holding him constantly or he'd scream, you had to stay with him for 10-30 minutes before he'd go to sleep, and if he woke up and you weren't there, he'd freak out. Needless to say, it was very exhausting for my wife, even though she was 'just' a stay-at-home mom with only one kid. And it's not that he was unhealthy, he was (and is) an extremely robust and energetic kid. edit: if you get a kid like this, get a wrap and learn to use it; our son was generally fine being strapped to our back or chest while we did chores. Cicero fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 23:25
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Bugamol posted:I think trying to work from home is a good backup plan, and it's a great idea to start immediately. Work at work during the day and work from home at night. It's not going to be easier with a newborn. Plus it gives you time to see how much she can make and how quickly the burn out will start to set in. Yep just waiting to find her headphones as we unpack. She's already familiarizing herself with the software so hopefully it means a little extra income in the mean time too. Cicero posted:Yeah, my cousin had a kid almost the same age as ours, and she was extremely easy to manage as a baby, was perfectly fine sleeping in a crib or wherever by herself, playing by herself, etc. Our son, on the other hand, demanded constant attention. You had to be playing with him or holding him constantly or he'd scream, you had to stay with him for 10-30 minutes before he'd go to sleep, and if he woke up and you weren't there, he'd freak out. Needless to say, it was very exhausting for my wife, even though she was 'just' a stay-at-home mom with only one kid. And it's not that he was unhealthy, he was (and is) an extremely robust and energetic kid. I was going to say it's a little too late for a wrap but then I Googled baby wrap.  That's neat.
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Aug 12, 2014 00:48
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Knyteguy posted:I was going to say it's a little too late for a wrap but then I Googled baby wrap. I never got the hang of them because I was lazy and I suck at knots and knotlike things, but my wife used it all the time and still does every once in a while, and sings their praises every chance she gets.
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Aug 12, 2014 00:51
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I think it's one of those things that you can plan as best as possible, but the reality will be what it is and there's only so much planning to be done - you'll have to figure out a way to make it work when you get there. For example, you might discover that once your kid is born, while you may have the ability to work such a schedule, you may not want to. Your baby only has their first year once. But having said all that, be aware that mentality can be used as an excuse to never get out of debt, so tread lightly. But I personally would not blame you if you decided that the schedule where you never see your partner and have limited time with your kid starts to burn one or both of you out.
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Aug 12, 2014 19:21
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And you never know what your kid is going to be like. Some are super chill and working from home won't be an issue. A lot are very intense. A lot of kids nap very sporadically throughout the first year-- mine took naps from 20 minutes to 3 hours (but usually around 1 hour) for the first...six months?? Only after a year did we really start to get a regular nap schedule. We also had to be holding him and moving while awake for a good 4 months at least. He wasn't happy being held if we were sitting for the most part. He's almost 14 months now and not yet sleeping through the night on a regular basis. So tired.
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Aug 12, 2014 21:20
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imabanana posted:Having a baby is a huge adjustment, and I would not ever downplay it, but it's also not as hard as some of these people are making it out to be. I think this is just SA tough love. Babies sleep a lot at first. (I'm assuming a healthy baby obviously, if not then all bets are off.) As others have said, this is only true for certain types of children, and it can vary a lot. My best friend and I had kids within five days of each other. His boy fell asleep in the blink in an eye, usually took 2-3 hour naps during the day and 5-6 hour passes during night. When awake, he was perfectly content to sit in his baby sitter and watch the world, or lie on the floor and do the same. My daughter was the opposite. During the day she'd sleep for 15-30 minutes and getting her to sleep took about 30-40 minutes. In total she'd be awake for about 1,5 hours, so you'd spend 1 hour feeding her, changing diapers and carrying her around (because if she wasn't in motion she screamed, and it needed to be specifically in motion whilst touching you), then 30 minutes of rocking her to sleep, then 15-30 minutes of holding a hand on her, otherwise she'd wake up immediately. During the night she'd sleep for 2-3 hours in a stretch. I combined my 2 weeks of newborn baby leave with my vacation and was home with my wife for 5 weeks after the birth. When I got back to work I had gone 32 days without sleeping longer than 3,5 hours. And that was with two of us in the house and not working from home at the same time. So I guess I agree with the other posters, you might be able to work from home, but keep in mind that even the easiest babies sap most energy right out of you. We went over budget on food for 6 months because we were both too worn out to cook much at all. On the washing machine thingy, not all babies fit all diaper brands. Be prepared to experiment a bit. Babies have very runny poo poo that will easily flow out of the diaper and onto their clothes, bed, your carpet and anything else close by, which means you might have to wash a lot more than just the cloth diapers.
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Aug 13, 2014 12:55
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Baby talk: welp just kill me now  . I eagerly await the day I'm cleaning up runny poo poo from the carpet.So our income is probably going to be around $340 (give or take $5) more than we estimated this month as reflected in the budget. I'm think of using $100.00 for fun money and $240.00 for additional savings. If we stick to budget as we have been, then our total savings will be conservatively $5,000.00 after August (we had $1,200 coming into it). Considering our goal was to have $4,500.00 by September 1 it seems reasonable to me. Whatchu Goons think?
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Aug 13, 2014 20:55
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I think adding more money to "fun money" during Spartan August is a silly idea. You've got a baby on the way, save every penny you can while you are still able to. You will need it very soon.
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Aug 13, 2014 20:57
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Knyteguy posted:So our income is probably going to be around $340 (give or take $5) more than we estimated this month as reflected in the budget. I'm think of using $100.00 for fun money and $240.00 for additional savings. I think you're going to lose to Slow Motion with that strategy and we can't have that. Also I am a firm believer that your fun money should be static until you work out this entire situation. Finding more and more ways to justify spending lots of money isn't a good way to go about doing things, and I would suspect that spending a huge chunk of your fun money on a kindle to start the month might just be why you're itching to add to your fun money.
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Aug 13, 2014 20:57
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Meh alright I was kind of hoping that wouldn't be the consensus but so be it. I'm confident we can stick to the plan this month, but next month I might need to give us a little more wiggle room. I won't be able to blissfully underestimate next month either - there won't be any more drastic changes to the paychecks like insurance changes and such. Speaking of which I think it was Hand of the King's thread that motivated me to check out the IRS tax return calculator. It looks like we'll owe around $5k come tax season next year. Will the baby get us an income tax credit if it's born before we file next year? Should I try to put a couple hundred to charity every month? Federal taxes only.
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Aug 13, 2014 21:13
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You should get an additional deduction of $3950 for the child, as well as a credit of $1000 if your household MAGI is below $110,000. So about 2 grand cheaper in tax per baby, as long as it is born any time in 2014. You only save tax on charitable contributions if you are already itemizing (vs taking the standard deduction). If I were you I wouldn't make it a priority right now.
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Aug 13, 2014 21:26
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I'm not in tax, but I'm pretty sure as long as it's born before 12:00 AM January 1st 2015 you can claim the credit and dependent. I'm guessing the credit is $1,000 and the additional dependent you would have to calculate with an income tax calculator but probably roughly another 1,000. So you're looking at owing $3,000 to the IRS right after having a baby. Keeping all of that in mind, you should definitely stop spending money on anything that isn't essential. If you're having trouble staying in your discretionary spending now it will only intensify with a new baby/child. Cute clothes, cute toys, cute whatever. Add onto that the fact that you know daycare would be about $1000 a month you should just assume your wife is going to work (work full time and not be able to see her child all day to net $500 a month???). If you're not having a mild panic attack then you've got bigger balls than I do.
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Aug 13, 2014 21:29
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Droo posted:You should get an additional deduction of $3950 for the child, as well as a credit of $1000 if your household MAGI is below $110,000. Hm well I think I might itemize because of the business... but then again I think I went with the standard deduction last year because I didn't have enough writeoffs anyway. Thanks. I probably won't do anything then. We can handle $3,000.00 and I was conservative on my wife's paycheck when doing the IRS calculator. I'm ignorant regarding this, but is there any reason we should consider an accountant for 2015? Taxes seem to be getting more complicated every year.
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Aug 13, 2014 21:35
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I have never felt the need for one, and I feel like they are more likely to miss something about my personal situation than I am. It's also not cheap. Taxes really aren't that complicated when you get right down to it - the IRS forms are retarded and make everything look confusing, but if you spend a few hours one time going line-by-line down form 1040 to kind of explore every major category, I think most people would be better off. You have to keep in mind that most smart decisions are made in advance of filing your taxes (for instance, nowadays with everyone inducing if it's possible to give birth in December or January, how about you do it in December to save 2 grand). Your accountant probably isn't going to help you with the in-advance stuff.
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Aug 13, 2014 21:44
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